And how. It ripped into the piece this afternoon delivering line drive-bat-crackin’-goodness.
It was a close game for six innings, good pitcher’s duel between Andy Pettitte and Mitch Talbot. Every team in baseball wore white hats today, including the Yankees. I usually don’t go in for alternative NY caps, aesthetically not morally, but these looked good. And Pettitte looked regal and in command in the middle of the beautiful field on a nice spring day, hot but with a breeze.
Alex Rodriguez hit a solid line drive to right center field for a two-out RBI in the first. He whiffed in his next at bat and then got hit with a pitch. Now it was the bottom of the seventh and the bases were juiced because the Indians intentionally walked Mark Teixeira to pitch to him, Yanks holding a 2-1 lead.
Paul O’Neill had been talking about Alex being due to bust out sometime over the next couple of days on the YES broadcast. So Rodriguez gets into a fastball and hits a bomb to dead center, good for the 20th grand slam of his career. Only Manny and Lou Gehrig have more. Rodriguez needs four more for the all-time lead.
Robbie was hitching round the back bumber of the score truck, stepped up after the slam and lined a solo homer to right. Later, Rodriguez added an RBI double. Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher had two hits each, and Brett Gardner had three. Eleven runs in all, a series win, and a damn fine way to make up for what happened on Saturday.
Final Score: Yankees 11, Indians 1.
Good show boys, good show. And oh, by the way, Andy Pettitte is 7-1, with a 2.48 ERA. Not bad for an old man.
“It’s gunna be a good summer.”
[Photo Credit: Bags and AP Photo/Frank Franklin II]
